Friday, 27 February 2015

My Afternoon Tea Reveal

So the other day, we held our ‘reveal’ afternoon tea party for close family.

It was sort of a combined mini-housewarming, and a thank you for all the help we had with moving from everyone.

Since we moved, people have stopped by for coffee and stuff, but we haven’t had any kind of ‘gathering’ so the time was ripe.

I was really worried and kind of embarrassed about exactly how we were going to drop the bombshell – its not really something you can prepare yourself for.

We spent all morning making nice treats- scones with cream and jam, lots of sandwiches, handmade chocolate truffles, hors d’oeuvres, a big Victoria Sponge with fresh strawberries, devils on horseback (a newly discovered favourite) and little caramelised red onion and feta cheese tarts. I was very nervous about people arriving!

It was almost as if I was shy of admitting it, which was silly.

People were also in different areas of the house, and I didn’t want to call them together for a big announcement, so I had to wait until everyone came back into the living room.

Then finally, as it was getting late and I was worried people would start leaving, I quickly said “thank you for coming and all your help with the move, and we just wanted to tell you, we’re expecting a baby.”

The room erupted!

My elder sister in law and my mother in law burst into tears and squeals, my dad just about burst with pride – it was so lovely. That moment made it all so much more real! I couldn’t get over how pleased everyone was for us.

The moment that really made it for me was how happy my sister in law was for us – I don’t have any brothers and sisters myself, so Seb’s two sisters are the closest I have.

She gave me the biggest hug and was just sobbing saying how pleased she was for us – and its really great that I can finally talk to her about it. She has a one and a half year old and a three year old, so she’s best placed to give advice to us. I remember going to stay at theirs to look after our niece when she was in hospital with our nephew ( it’s a family legend that will never be forgotten how I fainted when she went into labour), and its really strange to think its now happening to me.

So, the cat is well and truly out of the bag now. Its nice that people know and we can finally be open about it – I’m rubbish at keeping secrets.

Seb’s younger sister couldn’t make it, so he called her afterwards and I called my mum, who lives down in Cornwall and couldn’t be there.

A couple of people there commented on our ‘good news’ on Facebook, so I got a few enquiring messages from people as well - we weren’t going to make it full public knowledge until after our scan on Friday, but I guess news travels fast.

The one potential complication is that I think I’m due on the same week as his younger sister’s wedding, which is far from ideal.

I worried that she’d be annoyed about it (not that we could have helped it) but she’s been good so far. Friday will give us more clarity on dates.

I’m hoping my EDD shifts a little as I can’t decide what would be worse: being at the wedding the size of a house and ready to drop, being in hospital and unable to go, or contemplating attending with a week old baby. That’s a hurdle to cross closer to the time I think, as its so hard to know how you’ll feel at the time, especially as I’m mostly feeling fine so far.